As educators, we always hope that every class we teach will go smoothly according to the plan. Yet, sometimes that is not the case. What do you do when there’s a disruption — illness, inclement weather, public health emergency — and you have to adjust your plan? Plan for disruption!<\/p>\n
ÌÇÐÄvlog has long sought to support students and their instructors when illness or other life events cause unanticipated absences from regular attendance.<\/p>\n
As instructors, our job is to evaluate students on their achievement of the learning outcomes of our courses.\u00a0 All the structures we develop — absentee policies, requirements for collaboration and meeting deadlines, etc., — are designed to support student learning of the course outcomes.\u00a0 Similarly, our assessments are designed to further learning and evaluate learning. Thus, <\/strong><\/span>the extent to which students demonstrate fulfillment of course learning outcomes, regardless of their exact achievement of the individual elements of our courses<\/em>, is what matters<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong> Strong learning outcomes and assessments enable us to fulfill our responsibilities as educators, and over-reliance on grading calculators and point systems may undercut our higher purpose. Use your judgment to be equitable, flexible, and focused on the high-level goals you have for learning in your course.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n For suggestions on navigating political conversations in the classroom, see Political Discussions in the Classroom: Do’s and Don’ts\u00a0<\/a>and Dialogue Across Differences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Reminder: Moving a class from in-person to synchronous online is only permissible when the University has made the decision that in-person classes are cancelled.<\/strong>\u00a0 You cannot go online on your own; in the event you have an individual circumstance that prevents you from making it to campus, notify your department chair or school director to work out a substitute and\/or alternative plan.<\/p>\n When the University administration announces that all classes will be remote, and you are scheduled to teach on campus, take the following steps:<\/p>\n\n
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